My favorite misfit from the land of bullpups (eastern/central EU) is the Cricket Carbine. Have spilled enough virtual ink here & elsewhere on the net explaining why, so will keep it simple here: more than any other rifle - air or powder - it just fits me. Saw a while back that @Georgia Airguns had some left in .25, at a reduced price. Life got in the way for several months, but finally settled down a bit... figured now was the time, as they probably won't be available much longer. Mr. Frear did the voodoo that he do on one & sent it my way.
Very little wind late yesterday afternoon, so pellet testing was on. The test target Charlie sent with the gun showed FX/JSB 25.4 & JSB 33.9 MKII shooting very well at 40 yards, with JSB Hades also showing perfectly acceptable hunting accuracy. Tested 5 kinds of pellets (FX & JSB 25.4 = same thing different wrappers). Apparently this barrel will shoot well with anything pellet shaped & .25 caliber. The biggest group, at a lasered 100 yards, was barely over an inch & a half. Will let the picture tell the rest; as the late, great Paul Harrell would say- you be the judge.
Been doing this long enough to know that one five shot group is only the foreward, not the book. That said, it’s clear this one is a shooter! Two manufacturers, two lead alloys, three weights, and four shapes... dang.
Side notes:
Obligatory eye candy photo of the rifle below, with SFWA SS 12x scope & Warne medium rings.
Very little wind late yesterday afternoon, so pellet testing was on. The test target Charlie sent with the gun showed FX/JSB 25.4 & JSB 33.9 MKII shooting very well at 40 yards, with JSB Hades also showing perfectly acceptable hunting accuracy. Tested 5 kinds of pellets (FX & JSB 25.4 = same thing different wrappers). Apparently this barrel will shoot well with anything pellet shaped & .25 caliber. The biggest group, at a lasered 100 yards, was barely over an inch & a half. Will let the picture tell the rest; as the late, great Paul Harrell would say- you be the judge.
Been doing this long enough to know that one five shot group is only the foreward, not the book. That said, it’s clear this one is a shooter! Two manufacturers, two lead alloys, three weights, and four shapes... dang.
Side notes:
- This is my first rifle of ~half dozen that has shot any of the AEA/JTS offerings worth a hoot. Almost didn’t order any due to previous poor results, but glad I did. Don’t’ get me wrong, the others in .177, .22, & .30 had great weight/head size consistency, it just didn’t translate on targets. Rifle barrels being rifle barrels, no talking them into it with statistics.
- 25.4 pellets were moving at ~950 fps, & the 33.9 at ~845. Didn't chrony the AEA 29.5.
- All shooting done with JB3D single shot loader, clever design that works well.
Obligatory eye candy photo of the rifle below, with SFWA SS 12x scope & Warne medium rings.
Last edited:
